The Psychic Warlord, forging the weapon
by S.A.Shelton
Summary: A whole new series with new original characters taking place in a gritty marvel knights universe. This is an excerpt from the second book in the novel series that began with Odyssey of a Daydreamer and will eventually lead to the final battle to prevent the natural end of all things. Follow all the Exarch in the Legendary Dreamers Novel series By S.A. Shelton. Please leave feedback


Chapter 0

"Meagan! Pay attention!" The teacher snapped in her shrill voice like nails on a chalkboard it pulled me out of the downward spiral I was trapped in.

"Yes ma'am?" I replied with a little confusion.

"France" Mrs. Albright's voice echoed in my head as she grimaced at me. "The question was what country-."

"France." I replied quickly before she had time to begin another tedious lecture.

"…Why yes, that's correct…." She was irritated, I could feel it coming off of her like waves that pierced thru the teenage angst and chaotic emotions coming off of every other student around me. It was like a front row concert seat with massive speakers booming directly at me from every angle, conflicting emotions and thoughts and ideas that clouded reality distantly from my perception to replace it with the chaos of being not one but every teenager in the room.

She continued to speak and I could feel the skepticism coming off of her as the chaos drowned out what she was saying under what others were thinking and feeling. My name is Meagan Armstrong and I am pretty sure I have psychic powers. Lately this has been my typical day, I thought at first I was hearing voices and totally losing my shit but it was quickly obvious that the voices were other people's thoughts.

In the fairy tale stories everything just worked itself out, people like me just had a talent for mastering their power and winning the day. The sickening reality is I have very little control over this abstract phenomena. I get stressed and I feel the emotions of others crowding me into claustrophobia until I can't feel my own emotions under the weight of the others around me. I feel ambition and lust, love and hate and wicked jealousy, all the hidden private feelings that make us human that we hide from others are laid bare. Static electricity surrounds everyone and everything and I feel it flow thru me as other minds process their own thoughts I am forced to process with them and accept their closed minded solutions despite my own reasoning defending my psyche I am drawn into the wants and needs of everyone in the classroom.

My attempt to push it out of my mind and find a comforting clarity only results in blocking minds from the next classroom. I will never be normal, I will never be whole while I possess this curse. Who am I really if what I am is engulfed by the people around me then I will only ever be what they allow me to be.

The day passes and somehow I make it to the car rider's line to wait for my beloved aunt. She has been my friend and confidant since my mother passed when I was still too young to comprehend death, I have wished I could tell her about what I am going thru but the awful truth of our society is that people like me are persecuted. It is every person's responsibility to report mutations and aberrations to the authorities. There are not many mutants in the world today but we are told to be wary of their existence and if suspicious behavior is seen or suspected, any good American is expected to report it to the police or the threat hotline where anyone can anonymously turn in their neighbor for suspicious activity.

Super villains are a real threat and they are as common as terrorist attacks in the news, to try and stem the rising epidemic of murder and property damage every government in the world independently concluded all mutants should be incarcerated for everyone else's safety. While some people pretend they might be accepting, the reward for reporting a mutant coupled with the hate and fear shared by most made friends turn in friends and parents turn in their own children.

Aunt Bianca is a beautiful middle aged woman of obvious Spanish descent, I know she is not really my aunt but I can't deny the bond she shares with my absentee father. I am not Spanish, my mother was a Caucasian woman with a Danish heritage in our family bible that I accidentally memorized, my dad has absolutely no sign of Spanish heritage witch further supports my theory that Bianca is only a hired caretaker that wants us to consider her as family since she has been around as long as I can remember, she may seem to care about us but she is bound by the same precepts as all other Americans, beware-fear-and report mutants wherever they are found.

I know in my heart I cannot burden her with the horrible truth of what I am becoming, she loves me and I love her but national security supersedes this bond and I won't make her decide between what is right and what is necessary. I get in her quaint and clean mini-van and stare out the window, I close off the rest of the world and her kind inquiry about my day and let myself relax. The guarded front I maintain every day falls away as we pull away from the crowded school, Bianca has always been quiet to me, her mind doesn't open up and spill secrets like a babbling brook like all the other people I meet. She is different, serene and mysterious, a guarded mind somehow but I know she is a friendly soul. I have never heard her thoughts for some reason, when the strange voices first started I thought it was only other people my age I could hear but quickly I realized most minds were brimming with secrets to share, she is just different and I love her for it so I keep my secret and I keep our bond for as long as I can.

"Something is wrong?" She asks me thru the solitude I have pulled over me.

"Yeah…." I respond as blandly as I can muster, I want to tell her, I need to tell someone but I would be better off turning myself in than dragging her down into my secret. My mind fires away at a million miles per second and I consider the outcome of everything I could possibly tell her about what I am going thru. As I stare out the window, in between every line in the road a suggestion comes, Tell her the truth and be betrayed or cause her to suffer consequences because she wanted to protect me. Tell her a lie now and deal with the consequences when she learns the truth, I can see the betrayal in her eyes as the authorities drag me away. A dozen different distractions come to mind to ease her worries and I choose the most plausible. "I don't think I studied enough for my test." With all the distractions today I'm not certain if we took a test recently or not.

Bianca's body language tells me what her thoughts fail to reveal, she is concerned for my general well-being. "I'm sure you did well enough on your test. I have every faith in your ability to pass a test Meagan…. What else is bothering you?"

For a brief moment I consider the idea that she can hear my thoughts, all this time the empathy my sweet Aunt Bianca expressed towards me was really hiding her mutant gift? I turn towards her expectantly hoping for some kind of understanding nod or clear affirmation that I was not unique in this world but she is focused on the road and all I see is a little concern in her eyes. She has been me and my 2 siblings nanny as long as I can remember and she wasn't really family obviously, regardless what dad says she isn't the same race as us, she is brownish tan and her black hair is a strong sign of her heritage while Dad and the rest of us are clearly of Caucasian descent. She worries about us like other people worry about workload and layoff's- we are just a job to her no matter how much she says she love's us.

"It is some stupid drama, propagated by some stupid kids and I would really like to just forget about stupidness and move on in a positive direction if that's o.k.?" I ask in fake exasperation.

"Very well." Bianca replies, her accent thicker than usual. "Keep your secrets." She says in a manner that suggests there is some secret understanding.

"Bianca…?" I begin, mind racing, I'm uncertain if I could ever really tell her but I need to know the truth about her. Again my mind accelerates and as I consider my options and reason thru a dozen different approaches to indirectly gather information about her, it actually seems like the lines in the road slow down and I can count milliseconds in the space between them.

"What is it dear?" Aunt B asks gently.

"Have you ever felt…?" I begin and draw it out as I watch and read her body language, I can learn a lot about people thru their eyes, I'm no master of psychology but you can see when someone is lying or hiding something, you can see the sincerity and truth of emotion in how they look at you. She is worried, still no thoughts coming from her even when I might want to hear them. She is sincere in her concern… that is all I can get out of her poker face and her over-sized sunglasses she wears when she drives. "Like… you know somehow that… I don't know Aunt B, I feel like something bad is going to happen and I just don't know how to describe the feeling out loud."

"What bad honey? What is going to happen? Please don't be afraid to talk to me." Bianca says and pulls off her shades to look at me while we are stopped at a light. She has been so much like a mom to me for so long I feel the emotional childish impulse to just dump it all on her and cry in her lap the rest of the way to pick up my brother and sister.

"Just a feeling Aunt B, like someone is looking for me and they are getting closer. Paranoia, I know, typical teenage hormonal imbalance or something right?" I decide to bring up a dream I have had more than once lately, someone is after me but in the dream I am waiting for them and I am un-afraid.

"Who?" Bianca asks so seriously and quietly it takes me off guard. She is staring at me and I realize the light changed and she doesn't seem to have noticed.

"Uh, the light." I point and she continues but she doesn't let it go.

"Who is it Meagan? Have you seen a face? Heard a name? Anything at all?" She pry's insistently.

Right about now my line of thinking is wondering how this is derailing so fast from where I wanted to go with it but my subconscious starts throwing things at me like pebbles bouncing off my skull until I take notice. Aunt Bianca knows something about someone who may be after her or me. It sounds kind of crazy but it is obvious in her mannerisms that she does know something and it may actually relate to me being a mutant.

"Why don't you tell me who it is?" I challenge her.

Her mouth snaps shut and she looks from the road to me several times like she is uncertain what to do with me. She slides her shades back on and straightens herself in her seat and goes on driving like nothing was said. And that flicks more pebbles at me; she knows something dangerous, at least one of my parents must have had powers too and Bianca knew. We move often not for dad's job but to stay hidden and safe from something she is stifling terror to keep from revealing to me.

"You know about my powers?" I ask her bluntly as we arrive at the middle school where my younger siblings will be waiting.

She studies me as we park in the line to wait our turn. "I did not suspect you would be this clever." She says and though she is stone cold serious I sense a faint smile. "We will talk later dear, hush for now." She says sweetly dismissive as she hits the unlock button and Max and Allison, fondly nicknamed Apple, climb in excitedly wanting to both talk about their day at the same time.

We drive back home and I am tasked to homework and chores and the evening goes on like any other for so long I start to wonder if I didn't imagine we talked about it. Finally she sends the younger ones up to get ready for bed and gives me one last chore in the kitchen and I'm sure she is ready to talk. I open the kitchen door and walk in and another pebble urges me to look up, there by the back door is a shiny metallic man with a pair of swords and another very familiar figure, the costumed super hero known as Titan, he has been on the news saving the day more than once.

"Hello." I say simply, for once my mind has no quick answer, this was not even on the list of things that could have happened tonight. Bianca walks in behind me with her large purse over her shoulder, she flops it on the table and opens it up and produces a long rod with a glowing purple light on one end that is too big to have been in the bag. She grasps the rod in both hands and closes her eyes and with a flash of light she has changed outfits to a beautiful white dress with a split dangerously high on both sides and an elegant feathered white masquerade mask.

"I knew you were hiding something." I tell her smugly.

"What about me? Did you suspect me at all?" Came a hauntingly familiar voice, cold chills ran up my spine as Titan spoke with my Dad's voice and the most famously tough hero on Earth takes off his mask to reveal my father's eyes staring back at me. My jaw drops and he grins with pride and love as we both step forward to hug each other. My Dad has to travel a lot for his job, I was told all my life he was a rescue pilot and he went all over to help people in need. Now the truth is they didn't lie- he does fly around and rescue people but my dad doesn't need an aircraft to do it. It has been over a week since he was home last and now more than ever I am so thrilled to see him.

"Who is your friend, I've never seen him before." I ask unable to guess the metallic guys origin.

"But you have met me before princess." The metal man says as his skin transforms before my eyes back into flesh and his Asian American accent gives him away as Dr. Saul, of all the people who might run around with the famous Titan, my pediatrician is a metal skinned ninja warrior super hero sidekick.

"Doctor Saul!" I exclaim gleefully and hug him too. I feel he is immediately off set by the awkwardness of the action, I secretly have had a crush on the sweet doctor since I was little, here he is dressed for action with no shirt on and I am hugging him tightly. I am aware that he is aware that I am developing into a woman and suddenly I shy up and awkwardly let him go. I have known for a long time that my crush was stupid and immature and I am way too young for him to ever think of like that and now on top of everything else, he is more than just an old college friend of my dad's.

"So we are a big happy super hero family?" I ask uncertainly.

"I am a guardian of the most sacred treasure in the war against Entropy." Bianca proclaims formally. "I am a sorceress of the white order, a conjurer under Gaia and Saturn, the earth and the sky. I am your great Aunt and for over 400 years I have kept my sisters children safe from the evil forces that hunt us."

"Who is hunting us?" I ask

"There are a great many forces that would like to interfere in our destiny, I was hoping you could tell us more." Aunt Bianca replied evasively.

"Why would you suspect I might know? Because I had a dream more than once about it? I am just learning about all this right now." I explain.

"Not the dream, not the feelings…." Saul steps forward to explain, "I am your doctor primarily because we can't trust hospitals anymore not to find out the secret in your blood. I knew when you were a baby that you were special Meagan. Your mind sends and receives electrical impulses many times stronger and faster than anyone I've ever seen before, I am certain you will manifest psychic abilities at some point, very soon if you have not already."

"Already," I say and shrug helplessly, "A few months ago I realized not all the voices in my head were my own. I don't know how to work it, school and crowds in general are difficult to deal with."

"What else?" Bianca asks with a knowing smile.

"The fast impulses you mentioned… everyone else is moving so slowly and sometimes I am trying to run thru molasses because my body can't keep up with my mind. Complex ideas are dissected easily and usually I can learn so much from your eyes and body language I don't have to read your mind to know what you're thinking… Aunt B." I say as I realize she knows I can't read her mind because she found a way to block that. She smiles and nods back sweetly.

"Telekinesis, pre-cognition, aura detection?" Saul asks curiously.

"None of the above… not that I know of anyway." I reply.

"Let us pretend that you have all of those if you assert your mind to any of them. The brain wave pattern for a telepath is something I can see on a good scan, you don't have it, you never did, just those strangely fast impulses firing up when you need them to. Yet here you say you can hear thoughts, that's your mind lighting up the dormant telepathic region of your brain… if you can accidentally light up one section then you can train yourself to light up any section… you could possibly imitate any psychic phenomena, duplicate any psychic power… even develop something new." Saul was excited, he had apparently been waiting 16 years to talk to me about my brain.

"Uncle Saul wants to teach you kung-fu." Dad interjected into the beaming Asian's gleeful grin.

"That would be so cool." I say sincerely.

"Welcome to the club." Dad said with pride.

"What do we call ourselves?" I asked already feeling like the pivotal tough guy crime fighter of the group.

"Well we don't really call ourselves anything, not trying to draw any attention we don't need, but we do have something like a major financial backer that supports us, they are called the Omega Corporation." Saul explained. "It is actually a company me and your dad started with a few of my patents. We employ well trained mercenaries and have a contract with the U.S. government to own and operate the cool shit like tanks and missile launchers right here in the downtown area, it is pretty wicked. Of course we try not to risk anyone else's life in our endeavors but it is nice to have a team of loyal and competent ex-military soldiers when you need them."

"We have a tank?" I ask in disbelief. My dad is a superhero, my pediatrician is his sidekick, my nanny is a witch and the part I have trouble with is they may have a tank and a missile launcher somewhere.

"You will see dear, we have so much more than just a tank." Bianca confirmed with a smile.

"I want in. I want to see it all and I want to go with you on a mission." I insist confidently.

"You get to train with Saul first." Bianca insists in her overprotective motherly tone.

"Just to have an ability or be a mutant does not mean you are ready to jump into a dangerous mission sweetie. I totally understand what you are going thru, Bianca kept me caged until I was old enough to make my own decisions too." Dad explained sympathetically.

The two of them shared a look and I saw thru both their eyes that his statement was not the entire truth. "And how many times did you sneak out and get into trouble without her permission? I am my father's daughter, if you think you can tell me all this and sit me on a bench somewhere playing card games to test my psychic abilities you are mistaken. I am different and I was all alone and now I find out the truth, that I'm not alone, and you want to hide me somewhere?!" I exclaim in exaggerated offense. "I don't think so! I will run away and teach myself, or I will just blow the lid off your whole secret thingy and tell everybody who Titan really is!"

Saul is trying in vain to stifle a giggle and Bianca is holding her forehead and shaking her head no as she questions the floor quietly; "Why me Mother? Have I not been thru enough already?" Dad has a strange look in his eye that spreads to a grin on his face and I just can't help but feel he is overwhelmed with pride for some reason at my indignation and disobedient attitude.

"Saul?" Dad asks his shirtless companion.

"Yes Leo?" He says trying to compose himself.

"Take her back to the shop. Put her in 119 and make sure she is at roll call in the morning." My father asks politely.

"As you wish." Saul says with an approving nod and motions towards the door, inviting me to go first.

I somehow feel I am going to get more than I asked for out of this adventure but I refuse to take a back seat now after finding out the amazing truth. I am a mutant, I do have powers, Saul knew about my powers long ago but everyone hid the truth from me. On the car ride back to the "shop" I take advantage of my chaperone to try and find out more.

"How long you been in the super hero business?" I begin indirectly.

"Since before you were born." He replies pleasantly. "Your father and I have been doing this together for a long time."

"How come I never see you on the news when they show him?" I inquire.

"I am better at not getting my picture taken. I move to fast, I don't fly- flying attracts a lot of attention, and I may use a digital scrambler to make it harder to get a clear shot. Most cameras are digital now and the way they translate light to pixels can be easily manipulated." He explains courteously.

"So you are a mutant too? What is your ability- armored skin?" I try to smile and match his pleasant demeanor so he will open up more.

"The metal is more than just armor, it can protect me from bullets and weapons but it also enhances my speed… sort of. I have discovered the mercury armor also protects me from time and many of its effects." Saul explains as we navigate into downtown.

"How so?" I inquire intrigued.

"Assuming another mutant were to freeze or slow down time, I can still move normally. Time is linear, always moving forward but sometimes when I try I can move sideways thru a moment." Saul says trying to explain it where I can understand. He doesn't mean to come off as patronizing but in his mind he is speaking to a 16 year old high school kid about temporal physics, he does not expect me to understand.

"So you aren't really super-fast, you just make other people seem slow. That is not terribly different from how I see the world. When my mind starts to fire up everyone is moving slow, I find it hard to be patient when people talk in slow motion and I already feel I know what they are trying to say even if I don't hear their thoughts I can still sense where they are going with the conversation. Class is so boring, please don't let them send me back to that." I plead

"That is not my place to say, but to be honest…" He says with a wink, "I don't think you need to worry about your old school so much anymore."

"Is that what Dad meant about showing up for roll call?" I ask.

"You will see Meagan, I don't want to ruin all the surprise." Saul says

"So you armor up and move sideways thru time-"I begin.

"Only in little jumps." He interrupts to correct me.

"Sorry?" I ask a little confused.

"Don't get the wrong idea, I don't stop time and run around all day long, I can push myself to move faster than time, in little bursts like when I throw a punch. Otherwise I am just very very fast. Like Bruce Lee." He says so triumphantly that I decide not to mention Chuck was faster.

"That's it?" I ask adding a little patronization to my tone to pay him back for underestimating me earlier. "No flying or super whatever?"

He laughs richly and I am again reminded of the childhood crush I have for the handsome friendly Asian mutant. "No, that is not it. I am one of the greatest martial artist in the world. The mercury skin makes me stronger and tougher but my true power does not rest in my physical ability, it is my mind that makes me so formidable. I am a genius level intellect, I have broken down the laws of physics and the deepest secrets of science. I have invented things that could change the world and hidden them away to keep them from falling into the wrong hands. I created a new nearly indestructible type of molecule and wove it into the threads that make up your Aunt's dress, she is practically bulletproof too because of it, and both my swords are made of the rare metal- they can easily cut thru the thickest steel or the hardiest opponent." Saul proclaimed with pride.

"Smart, fast, and strong?" I ask.

"While the armor is up I have the strength of ten men, nothing compared to your Dad but I don't have to rely on my strength to win… and neither will you." He explains.

"You going to make me a sword?" I ask with a bit more excitement than I intended.

Saul laughs again and it is contagious so that I can't help but smile. "Maybe one day, first I will teach you that you don't need a weapon. Then I will teach you to be a weapon, after that we will talk about crafting a weapon for you. You must be patient though."

"Of all the things that come easy to me, patience must be my weakness." I say sincerely and he laughs again, harder than before. "So glad you find my plight amusing Mercury Man" I say haughtily.

"One day you will see the humor too my little Psychic Imperial." He says kindly enough I don't argue.

We have moved from the tall buildings of Downtown to the industrial district full of warehouses and factories, Saul turns into a restricted drive and pulls up to a guard shack and rolls down the window. The guards recognize him quickly and raise the gate for him to pass without question. There are several giant structures that look like gas or chemical storage tanks around the property and piping runs everywhere between them. Around one corner of the developing maze I see in big letters at the top of one tank the words "Omega Corporation".

"This is covert…." I say sarcastically.

"Omega Corp produces over 30% of the argon used in the United States, and a handful of other specialty chemicals and substances with a lot of syllables. It is a legit corporation with real paperwork and a ton of trucks coming in and out at all hours. A perfect cover for what we really do." Saul lectures as we find a parking space and he exits the vehicle.

"What do y'all do here then?" I prod curiously.

"You can't learn everything on the first day." Saul says jokingly.

"…Maybe I can though." I reply shyly.

"You have a good mind, I know, but you must learn patience. Everything in its time and a time for everything." Saul says wisely.

"You aren't allowed to tell me everything." I deduce aloud.

"Very quick." Saul says approvingly.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." I reply with more confidence.

Saul stops and looks me in the eyes appraisingly. "Show me." He says finally and leads me into the nearest building.

As the door closes behind me I see the glow of his skin changing ahead of me. His voice comes more metallic and deeper as my eyes adjust to the dim lighting "My armor will break your knuckles if you try to punch me, just focus on trying to-" He says confidently and I reach out and slap him as fast as I can. His voice had started to slow down early on and when I realized he was leading up to suggesting something like touch only my mind sped me up so much he was just making an annoying noise I did not want or need to wait for. I swung hard and fast but loose so as not to hurt myself, I swung thru molasses and dragging dead weight my body moved so much slower than my mind did it was painful to wait on myself to get there! About halfway there he did not seem to notice that I was attacking him, I tried to embody what he said earlier about presuming I had the gift and I willed myself to move faster with a confidence that I could do that when I wanted. I felt the force of my mind grab my hand and carry it along, felt myself shift off-balance from the added momentum and immediately decided to take the necessary actions to compensate.

When my hand connected with his cheek his eyes were just registering what his mind had perceived a millisecond before the acceleration. Maybe he wasn't ready but the attack shocked him and turned his cheek and I knew he never expected me to be that fast. My hand tingled and I wiggled my fingers to make sure nothing was broken. A little numb but no pain, the force I manifested must have protected me.

"OW!" Saul said rubbing his cheek. "That stung!"

"Awww, you want to take a timeout to cry?" I said provokingly.

"How did you." He tried to ask in that slow motion droll and I interrupted him again.

"Telekinesis I think." I said confidently.

"That is called psychokinesis." He corrects.

I grab my left foot from behind me and kick and push it at the same time, planning ahead for the momentum and keeping my balance. It isn't simple but when I push hard enough the speed takes over and I see Saul start shifting to block. He isn't going to make it in time, I know this, but suddenly he kind of blinks and he is right there where he needs to be to block me. The blow still pushes him back an inch even though he is braced and again there is only a mild tingle as the force protects me from harm.

"That is like cheating." I chastise him.

"You don't really think you are going to whip me in my house on your first day?" He says condescendingly.

I hate to be talked down to, I hate it so bad coming from all these slow speaking slow thinking people that think I am the one that doesn't get it when they are the ones still a page behind me. I take the bait and attack, I imitate a foot sweep I saw in a movie and come back up with a psychokinetic uppercut, he blinks and I miss every time. He takes the assault with a series of punches and I backpedal to keep from getting hit, he is very fast and if he blinked he could hit me. Without any fight experience ever I can see him start the attack by watching the muscles in his shoulders, his eyes and body language and I can react and avoid the swing in time. I am faster than him when he is not blinking, at least mentally I am faster, the body needs a push.

I attack again, testing his limits I lead him into a feint with a series of kicks and on the 5th one I don't push my foot but stop halfway through and push my other hand instead and when he un-blinks my hand just grazes his cheek.

"You can't stay that way for long can you?" I challenge him, he had reappeared trying to dodge the slap instead of the kick.

He took the offence again and I saw him slow down more than usual. My mind was adapting to this and it was getting easier to push and counterbalance with every swing. My mind was sort of working of its own volition and seemed to be suggesting ways to overcome the problem of his blinking speed. As I dodged, because I know he won't blink on the attack, I wrapped my right arm around his as he swung, locking on to him so if he did blink he might have to take me with him. My other hand swung on his open body with as much push speed as I could gather to test the theory and I felt him try to move. I felt the impulse travel through his nervous system from his brain to the muscles, I felt it pass through our connection and before it got there I willed it to stop. I felt a crack as his rib gave way beneath my fist and I dropped him quickly and backed away.

ONE

Five strange and odd looking mutants stood in P.E. uniforms at perfect attention as the large black drill sergeant of a man strode forward in fatigues. Meagan was late for roll call, she wanted to blame not knowing where to be on someone else but it was the restless sleep from the night before that really caused her the most delay. How could she sleep knowing what she had done? Fear and excitement kept her eyes wide open and the new minds around her distracted her from the idea of slumber. So many new people in a confined space, she could feel the other mutants distinctly from the humans, especially the empathic orange kid. That is inevitably how she found where to be was when she felt all 5 of them come together.

"Good morning you ugly bastards!" The big black man hailed the mutants at attention and Meagan hesitated by the door, more than a little put out by his tone and manner

"Good morning sergeant Radar!" The kids shouted back in unison.

"You look like crap today you deviant slime soaked turd mongers! You all look fat too so I am going to run you today, you got a problem with that?!" Sergeant Radar shouted rudely.

"No Sir, no problem Sir!" They all 5 shouted together.

"Good because I'm going to run you until she pukes!" He said and pointed without looking to where I was trying not to be noticed.

Everyone of course stared at me so I had to come forward. I have no idea what to expect or for sure if this is where I'm supposed to be. "Hello, my name is Meagan. I was supposed to be present for roll call but I got lost."

The Sergeant studied me. "You got any papers?" He asked suspiciously.

"I do not, Saul didn't give me anything. Leo Armstrong said I should be here. Am I not in the right place?" I asked hopefully.

"Oh, I would say this is exactly where you need to be, the locker is over there, you got 60 seconds to get dressed out and catch up with the group. Hope you been working on your cardio…." Radar confesses with a cruel grin.

As I ran to the locker area I heard him shout to the other 5; "This is your lucky day, she looks soft to me kiddos, you should be able to make her puke in the first 5 miles if you push her. Now hustle me up a lap before she gets back, move, move, move!"

What the hell is his problem is the only thing I can think of right this minute. The Sergeant has some sort of mutant potential too if my senses are telling me correctly, makes 6 in the building… what about Saul? As I change I reach out and try to sense for him, I psych myself into a confidence and just push it so hard I actually see him sitting at a computer working. He is in the building but many levels above me and I feel the twinge in his side from the damage I caused less than 12 hours ago. He was healing very fast but he was uncomfortable. He stopped suddenly and looked around uncertainly and somehow he seemed to see me and the vision broke off as quickly as it had begun.

"Meagan!" Came Radars angry shout, "5 seconds left to get your-" He cut off as I came sprinting out to fall in to line with the others. The gym was a huge round room with a quarter mile track around the perimeter. It did not take long to realize the other mutants had more practice and more stamina than her. As the pain in her side got worse I reached out with my hyper active mind for a solution other than giving up and being made to look weaker than the others. My mind traced the pain to the source, my mind examined and studied the nature of fatigue and it rallied behind the idea of proving someone else wrong. I was not inferior, not meant to sit on the side and cheer for others, not the weakest no matter what- I am my father's daughter and the child of the greatest hero on Earth has a big shadow to fill.

I overcame my weaknesses and blocked out the pain, my mind forced my body to transform oxygen and carbohydrates into energy, I pushed myself to feed off my body and push harder than the rest and after 4 hours of pushing I was ordered to stop when the last man fell and I was the only runner left. I stood there trembling, forcing my will to keep me upright and keep my pride intact. Saul approached and walked in a circle around me, studying me and doing his best to look like he wasn't still hurting.

"You don't have super stamina either Meagan, you just have way more self-control than good sense to use it right. You are going to hurt yourself." Saul said into my trancelike eyes, he seemed so far away as he grasped my chin the whole world seemed to be bobbing like a boat on choppy seas. I felt his arms wrap around me, I guess I felt myself pass out, my stubborn will tried to keep me aware as it happened but my body was so fatigued I had no chance of winning that battle. I could have run myself to death if I had kept moving.

I awoke to my father sitting on the edge of my bed watching me with a gentle smile. The idea that everything was a dream tried to insert itself but quickly I noticed the differences in room 119 from my own room back home.

"How long was I out?" I asked, my whole body was sorer than I have ever been before.

"A few hours, Saul gave you some medicine to help you get your strength back quicker. I heard you really made an impression on your classmates this morning." Dad replied sarcastically.

"Oh no, does everybody hate me now?" I asked a little concerned. I never even got to actually meet the classmates.

"They all think you are a badass. That is what you wanted isn't it?" Dad asked curiously.

"Do they know I'm your daughter?" I asked raising up to my elbow to face him better. "I can feel everybody trying to put me in the backseat of the pope-mobile, in a pretty little bubble because nobody believes I can handle myself because I'm not bulletproof, I'm not as strong as you, I don't have metal skin or magic powers… I am ready to take on the whole world, I know I can overcome anything I put my mind to, isn't that what you told me all my life anyway!?" I demand in a rant.

Dad just smiles to himself and looks at wall art so I can't see his amusement at my tirade.

"You find this funny!?" I challenge.

"If you could have seen me and your Aunt arguing when I was your age you would laugh at yourself now. I know what you are feeling, I know you think nobody can sympathize- and really I never had to deal with hearing thoughts like you do… no, my biggest dilemma growing into my birthright was the fragile glass world I lived in. Everybody else is so breakable when you can throw a big truck with one hand. Doors, windows, phones… really anything with a handle or button on it was at risk around me. It sounds crazy but getting noticed because of your abilities is worse than getting hurt over them." Dad explained.

"That is crazy." I respond, all I ever heard was rumors about people with powers disappearing, Dad has obviously been hiding his longer than I have mine.

"This technological age has everybody carrying a camera in their pocket, cameras on buildings and intersections can be used by anyone with good programming to track and find a face. It is a hundred times harder for you than it was for my Dad." The great Titan explains with a little sadness in his voice.

"You never really talk about grandpa, he had powers too?" I ask curiously.

Dad thinks for a minute as he studies me, "Legacy. You are the next generation in a long, long, line of our family having powers. Every generation produces an heir to continue the line of… well, tragedy and responsibility is what it seems like mostly… maybe Bianca should tell you about this part." He says a touch emotionally.

"Dad, please, I would like to hear it from you." There was a secret here I felt I needed to hear.

"Fine, here it is the way I have seen it, she knows more about conspiracies and summoning circles and ancient rituals and primal evils out to usurp our heritage. I know there are people after us. Powerful in many different ways, monstrous nightmarish creatures and at least one ancient evil sorcerer has been after our family for supposedly thousands of years. Then there is every enemy my Dad made and every villain I let live since I put on my mask. Super villains are an occupational hazard that would love to follow you home if given the chance, these guys get so butt hurt they would love to kill your family to get back at you for stopping them from hurting others. I go to great lengths not to bring attention home on my children, not to put y'all or Bianca in harm's way." He explains.

"She is your guardian and you are trying to keep her safe? What is this heritage and legacy stuff you keep dodging around? I want to know more about that." I insist.

"That really is something for Bianca, she doesn't like it talked about anyway because you can never be sure no one is listening." Dad says dismissively.

I am suddenly irritated beyond measure, they will always see me as a kid and filter their speech around me. I want to know, I deserve to know if it is my heritage or responsibility or whatever the story is I am part of it now and I deserve to be clued in like the rest of them. "Tell me!" I growl at my father angrily and, I want to say it was an unexpected accident but in hindsight I did push out when I said it, my mind races and leans toward him behind my angry insistence and he struggles visibly before answering mechanically, "Supposedly there was a war once over the fate of life on Earth, our family was chosen to champion the cause of man and fight for our right to continue here. According to prophecy the battle is destined to repeat until the end of time or until our family fails to defeat the great destroyer."

Dad shakes his head as I relax my will. He seems very confused and he shakes his head again and stares at me suddenly. "What did you just do?" He demands visibly upset.

"Uh…, I think I made you tell me, sorry it was an accident." I say defensively.

He struggles with his temper for a few moments and seems unsure if he should yell at me or punish me as I lay in bed still too sore to want to move my legs.

"Don't do that again." He says flatly, with a completely straight face he warns me; "It is very impolite to mind control family."

"Mind control? Did I really make you do something against your will? That is cool…." I say trying not to smile too broadly in the face of his perturbed demeanor.

"You did Meagan, which is a serious violation of some ones free will and not very hero like at all. You had an ancestor who could do something similar to that and he did not turn out well at all, he let the power go to his head and eventually had to be took down by his own family. Mind control is pretty much on the list of forbidden stuff next to summoning demons and murdering innocents." He warned gravely.

"Wow, it's still me Dad, don't turn on me yet. I didn't even know I could do that, I just feel like everyone is hiding stuff from me. I know I can help… I know I can fight- ask Saul!" I insist.

"Oh he told me what you did, he compared you to a sawed off bazooka with a hair trigger in the hands of a 12 year old." Dad replied.

"And I thought we were friends." I answer back, stunned.

"Well I may have been paraphrasing… o.k. that was my comment when I watched the replay of you cracking his rib. I laughed so hard I almost peed when you slapped him, did you see the look on his face!?" Dad said and laughed so contagiously I quickly overcame the affront and laughed too.

"I did, I saw him go from I got this to oh crap… he said ow." And then I laughed too and for a moment everything was like it used to be. "So when do you and I get to spar?" I asked as the laughter subsided.

"Never. If I accidentally hit you it would break you in half." Dad said sincerely.

"You could never hit me though." I insist with confidence.

"How about 'when you are wiser' then" He asks smugly.

"When are you going to accept me as an equal?" I wonder aloud.

"Still same answer, when you are wiser, for now try to work on humility and accepting you may have something still to learn. We may both get their together." Dad jokes.

A nurse brings in a tray of food and sits it on my bed table, she smiles politely and straightens the room quickly on her way out. Bianca enters the room before the door closes, a proud smile on her face.

"I asked your Doctor how you got here and he said you outran Harwin." She boasted.

"Who is Harwin?" I ask curiously.

"The blue kid with the ear fin thingies on his head." She explained socially.

"Oh yeah, I remember him, he was the last one to give out too." I reply, "I never heard any of their names, sorry."

"Oh, well then let's see… Harwin they call Dolphin sometimes, he is a swimmer who has a lot of stamina for any kid and is much stronger than he looks. The orange girl was Lola, she is empathic. The tall blonde girl is Kay Lynn, she is turning into dense rubber we think, and she does not tire easily either. The husky kid with the face is called Bubba, he doesn't exactly shapeshift but he can take on the traits of animals, you outran a wolf- so he was a chubby wolf but you really impressed everybody by doing it. And last, the girl with the black hair, her name is Tara, she hasn't demonstrated any powers really but Saul says her cells are very adaptive, maybe an auto defense mutation, and she puked on the 15th lap I heard."

"Be nice B." Dad reprimands with a smile.

"Someone had to be the first one out." Bianca said defensively, "If I had known there was going to be a marathon I would have showed up to cheer. I could have brought refreshments!" She warned my father, somehow turning it around to seem like it was his fault.

"Could I speak with you for a moment B?" Dad asked her and motioned to the hall.

"More secrets? I thought we were going to trust each other more?" I ask before she can answer and Bianca looks from me to him and back.

"What is going on?" She asks with concern.

"I mind controlled Dad earlier." I admit apologetically.

Bianca looks shocked at the news and she looks to Leo for a confirmation, his downcast eyes seem to confirm the truth and she looks back at me.

"How did you learn to do this?" She asks with concern

"He was hiding something from me and I just really was sick of all the secrets, I insisted he tell me and I guess I accidentally wanted it too much… I leaned my will against him and… I don't know how it works it just did." I explain.

Aunt Bianca studies me for a few long moments and asks me directly and a little too gravely, "What did you make him tell you?"

"He kept saying heritage and legacy and you would have to tell me the truth about our family history… I insisted he elaborate and he said something like we were the champions of mankind in some war for the planet. He said there is a battle that keeps repeating until we lose or time ends." I recall for her.

She considers him and me and everything that was said. "There are some things it is never good to speak about. Leo did not get to hear the story until after his parents were both dead. In fact, his father never heard the truth until after his own parents were both buried as well. That seems to be part of the repeating cycle and I think this time it would be ok to break the tradition." She explains and stands formally.

Bianca closes her eyes and with a deep hum she summons an energy to her hands and expels it in a flash with a guttural grunt that sounded like Ha- Huey! The energy coats the room around us, the blinds all roll down and the door locks but more than that, the room dims and I feel like it would be difficult for anything to enter or leave the room.

"Now we can speak without concern for a bit, this is something both of you should hear together. The world is going to end one day, it is ordained that everything that has a beginning shall also have an end. Some hidden force has conspired to bring the end about early, somehow the entity called Entropy was set to complete his task before the natural order of things was allowed to complete it's cycle, the end of time has already begun. My own Aunt was part of an alliance between everyone good and evil to stop the end of all things, they called the event the Pact and every faction swore to uphold the truce and put aside differences to guarantee the survival of all.

Almost a thousand years later the event occurred again, this time I was a young apprentice to my mentor, my own Aunt who had represented the white order in the first coming. I witnessed the power of the Exarch choose mortal hosts to wield the primal forces of the universe against its own unnatural end. During the battles that followed we were forced to cooperate with a real demon, a powerful infernal sorcerer who was imbued with the power of an Exarch. His own apprentice tried to turn on him and steal his power so he could ascend in Hell.

The bastard traitor was caught and defeated but it cost my Aunt her life and the deviant responsible was rewarded for his effort and successes even though he had betrayed everyone and risked the destruction of all for personal gain. That same traitor is aware of our families connection to the event, one of our line is always selected as an Exarch to wield unlimited powers, and he has been trying to find us and do harm to us for reasons of his own he covets our birthright and the corruption he could cause if he were able to somehow usurp it."

"That is pretty heavy Bianca, you don't really expect me to believe I am going to turn into a god one day?" I reply doubtfully.

"Oh no sweetie, there should still be a few hundred years before the next cycle, you are merely the next guardian in line. We must keep you safe so you can grow up and present an heir with some extraordinary gift like yours to carry the line until we are needed again. Your destiny is so much greater than just yourself. So many of your ancestors laid down their life to keep everybody else safe and free of oppression, I would love to see the cycle end but all I can really do is keep you safe in ignorance for as long as possible so you have some semblance of what it is like to lead the life of the people we protect. Those born into glory, the ancestors who never learned humility or normality eventually fell under the burden of the power they possessed. Mind control is a dangerous thing, the intoxicating superiority that comes with bending people to your will can corrupt you easily. One of my tasks that you could one day inherit is to guard an ancient artifact that is the prison for an ancestor that could warp the will of many people at the same time.

Before I was born my Aunt kept our line hidden, around the 11th century they lived in feudal Japan and her charge married into a royal family. She had a son with great physical power, he could heal from any wound, even from death it seemed, as close to immortal as any in our line had ever seen. In a world of swords he was like a god, shrugging of mortal blows and outfighting any 100 men. His mind was the real weapon though, he became an officer and was made into a warlord after only a single battle. He could make people fear him, many people at the same time and he could make it effect only his enemies while simultaneously inspiring all his nearby allies into bravery and loyalty.

The power went to his head of course and he decided that he was meant to rule all of Japan as her warlord. If he had been allowed to succeed I can only imagine his legacy would have been grander than Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan as he went on to conquer the known world. Unable to kill him they eventually found a way to trap his spirit in his own armor, the body was destroyed but his will remains to dominate anyone who tries to wear the armor. If he was somehow allowed to return he would try to finish his mad quest for dominance over all.

So the moral of the story, my sweet innocent bazooka, is be careful what you want, you just might get it. That is just one of a dozen painful secrets I guard that you will one day inherit. Don't feel like you have to rush down the path you think you are meant for because it only leads to a sad ending or the burden of painful secrets. Enjoy what time you have and accept patience or you will consume yourself with misguided purpose."

That really made me consider her words. This is life and death, this is serious. Maybe I will be the best anyone has ever seen, maybe I too am capable of making mistakes and I could end up responsible for someone innocent getting hurt. The lesson sank in that day more than anything I had learned before then. Not to say that I just sprouted the power of patience and everything was fine but I considered things more and tried to accept others opinions with less argument just to keep from pushing away the ones I did care about. Soon enough the tragedy she warned of came upon us and no one was ready for it.

TWO

The flight suit served its purpose as Meagan was able to fly in below radar level and land within the compound without tripping any perimeter alarms. Her armor cushioned the 50 foot drop that followed releasing the flight harness, her mind blocked out what little discomfort penetrated Saul's design. The area was clear of any mental presence but she knew full well the possibility of automation, hidden sensors and programmable defenses up to and including robotic security would be normal for their target.

Meagan didn't bother with the com link, she sent a telepathic message to Titan and the White Witch and one back to Saul at the command center where he remotely piloted his newest creation, a combat robot designed for mobility. "No guards, that almost guarantees they are expecting us. Be ready and do not deviate from the plan without my authority."

Her Dad and Aunt were both annoyed by her tone and Meagan factored in their annoyance and how it could affect their performance levels. "This is serious team, there are homicidal murderers in there with hostages and we can't afford any errors. Dad, you have Thrall, keep him focused on you. Saul and Bianca, you have to get Swampy on the defensive, leave the Warp Master to me." Meagan advises with hostility that everyone can feel thru the psychic bond she is manifesting. She has a passionate hatred for the sick and sadistic Warp Master who nearly got the better of her in their last encounter.

"Don't kill him." Bianca warns back with a magical mental message just for Meagan. Morality and honor and living with blood on your hands pour thru the message as empathic images and Meagan has to reply that she will try not to mortally wound the serial rapist and psychopathic killer. They all know that 19 hostages were taken off a bus this morning but only 14 heat signatures remain visible to Saul's upgraded satellite, at least 3 of which are the terrorists responsible. As is typical with this new adversary, all of the killers and hostages are shielded from mental detection by a powerful telepath. Meagan learned from Bianca to imitate the same trick and with a little concentration she can keep her whole group linked and hidden from the enemy telepath. This makes them both effectively blind mentally but it keeps the bad guy from mind controlling her allies so it is a necessary effort.

Saul's attack bot scans the building up close as it drops in from the other side of the compound. "Still 14." He reports as he moves into position near a basement window.

"I'm going in." I communicate to everyone and leap with a little push to assist me I land on the 2nd floor balcony and immediately move into the building thru the terrace door. I can draw images from Saul's mind of what his scan revealed and pass the information on to everyone. There are 2 people on the 2nd floor and I have to kill one without letting the other scream. Or wound him very badly anyway, stupid hero code of honor.

Hopefully it is the Warp Master up here, he definitely needs to be caught off guard and put down fast, the image showed one figure on top of another like someone might be in need of a rescue anyway, this would be the perfect karmic revenge for him trying to take advantage of the Psychic Imperial the last time they met.

Meagan moves with ninja like grace and stealth and speed like it was her super power as she pushes herself along with psychokinetic bursts. Down a hall and around a corner into the room with the heat signatures she flies, sword drawn with the momentum of a truck she strikes the bed blade first just as the half-naked figure disappears she tumbles thru the space he filled taking care not to harm the woman tied to the bed that she just saved from sodomy.

"Now!" She commanded mentally to her team and Titan plummeted from his aerial vantage point as Saul's robot penetrated the building's basement level. Bianca was a white dove flying nearby and as the mighty Titan penetrated the roof like a meteor into the main living room where the majority of the hostages were she followed him thru the gaping hole he made and transformed back into herself in the midst of the hostage group. Bianca's natural magic talent let her create invisible telekinetic minions to complete tasks for her (her other talent was creating mundane items out of thin air, simple things without many moving parts out of nearly any material, she was a very talented conjurer after several hundred years of practice.). She immediately made magical minions to untie and set free everyone while Titan pulled himself out of the crater he created and immediately dove head first towards Thrall, the muscle of the group.

Meagan focused on the warp signature that her prey left behind when he jumped, she nearly gave herself an aneurism as she forced her mind to tele-locate her thru the same signature to pursue him. The lightning responded to her confidence and with a momentary disorientation she appeared behind where he had just appeared. The villain grinned at her and jumped again to a balcony overhead as she tried to recover from the unnatural event. She was to dazed to try and follow while maintaining a shield on all her friends, if Saul was closer it would be easier she communicated as she jumped halfway up a column and threw herself across the room to the 2nd floor to pursue the teleporter.

Warp Master was ready, she was too overwhelmed to allow any form of pre-cognition to warn her, as she was diving toward him he opened a portal and she was flung outside and dangerously high into the air to fall to her death she presumed. Her head cleared as she fell and she knew better than to try to teleport again as she directed her fall to take her through the same whole Titan had made moments before. With a hard push she slowed her momentum and grabbed a rafter to swing towards the Warp Master's position, intent to kill.

Meagan saw him reaching thru a small portal he had made, she looked down to see his fist emerge from Bianca's chest as the portal disintegrated her bosom and armor the dirty blood soaked hand of her hated enemy presented her heart into the open void he made. He had time to draw it back and make eye contact with Meagan before he disappeared in a blink. Meagan tumbled to a stop and quickly peered over the rail just in time to see her beloved Aunt drop to her knees. She was already dead before she fell forward, her mind was fading and Meagan had to let go of the presence or be consumed in the same death she fell into. Her Dad screamed in anguish as his beloved caretaker passed from this world, she had raised him from a small child and was essentially his mother as far as emotional attachment went.

With a cry of rage she forced her mind to light up, problem solving and lightning fast impulses shielded her from the backlash as she jumped to follow him and jumped again and again as he had expected pursuit. When she finally caught up to the villain he still held the dripping heart of her aunt in his hand and she already had her blade out, with a wild yell she sliced off the hand of her tormentor and he and all his friend's disappeared again. Meagan used what was left of her weakened will to jump back before the portal faded completely and ended up beside her dad holding Aunt Bianca and wailing at the loss of one so dear to all of them. Even Saul was in tears back at the command center and blaming himself for not being here. Meagan knew as she kneeled down beside her Dad that the Warp Master was her responsibility and all this was her fault.

The hostages were freed and Bianca was buried the next day. There was a will with several sealed envelopes and Titan had decided to lock himself in his room for 2 days after the funeral so Meagan and Saul and Max and Apple each read their own letter privately.

Saul finished his first, Bianca planned it that way, they had both discovered that the other two children had powers and it was intended to keep them in the dark about the family curse and the family legacy of gifts for as long as possible. With Bianca's death the time had come to bring them in and teach them so they could be better prepared for whatever came next. Bianca surmised that Leo Armstrong would not be in any condition emotionally to continue with his responsibilities for a time so Meagan would have to train Max and Saul would oversee Allison's training.

A ring was taken from Bianca before she was laid to rest and the ring was given to Apple with her letter from Bianca. The ring itself was possessed by the spirit of Bianca's own Aunt, the sorceress who had taught Bianca and a benevolent ghost of a heroic ancestor who was herself a master of magic arts. Saul held to Bianca's wish and helped Apple train without trying to steal magic secrets with science again like he had in the past. Allison also had the mutant power to generate many different kinds of energy including light and her mentor taught her to master illusion thru her gift including solid illusions and deadly laser like intense beams of light that could burn thru solid steel easily.

Max was a natural born shapeshifter, once his power got itself started he almost forgot what his natural form was. He could turn into anything or anyone and he could even imitate abilities if he turned into other people with powers. Meagan trained him hard day and night, conditioning him to react faster to any situation. She made him a soldier and her protégé, a warrior of great skill that could hold his own against nearly anything if he choose the right form.

Four years passed with Titan growing more estranged and seeming possessed with the premature loss of his caretaker. The Siblings grew together and developed a bond deeper than friendship. Meagan was a bossy older sister but she was their guardian now and everything she did was to keep them safe from harm. They did learn the telepath responsible was called Volrath, they learned where his base of operations used to be, they traced him relentlessly to punish him for the death of their beloved Aunt but he stayed a step ahead.

Mission after mission had those poor heroes losing ground as Apple learned to master the magic arts, the ring guided her into her birthright, the gift of sorcery that empowered them to recover the void that Bianca left. They traced thru post cognitive magic the origin of Volrath, they watched as a cocky young archaeologist student found an ancient artifact that gave him the power to bend the will of thousands to his command. They watched him find an evil witch that called herself the dark oracle and set herself to oppose another young woman with amazing gifts that would eventually become the Oracle, a hero for the forces of good and a pivotal figure in the future of all mankind.

Many adventures came and passed and Titan became a rogue, obsessed with disposing of a mysterious being he called Chaun that he blamed for everything that had gone wrong. The 3 siblings remained as the frontal force for Omega Corporation after Saul himself lost both legs on a righteous mission he became an advisor and a weapon smith that kept the team equipped with the best gear available on the planet. Volrath used his influence to take the office of President of the United States, dominating a large group of heroes and villains and using them to guarantee his authority as he rallied to unite the whole planet in a supposed time of need that really was just a front to gather leaders to be dominated as a group so he could take over every nation on earth by being legally nominated as Commanding Officer of Earth in time of need. After that he only needed to maintain the illusion of need and keep enough leaders under his sway to keep his office.

Meagan tried in Vain to convince Saul to build a time machine so she could go back and save Bianca before she fell and in turn stop Volrath from ascending. His one adamant rule about tampering with the laws of physics was that time was not to be violated. Then things got dramatically worse.

Meagan was disabled on a mission by a young man called Kid Chaos, another agent of Volrath. As her brother and sister rushed her back to Dr. Saul to rescue her before she bled out the worst happened. Volrath dominated the unprotected mind of Allison Armstrong and used the defenseless girl as a weapon to kill Max and Leo Armstrong when he came to investigate. Meagan awoke as Allison was preparing to kill her too and she was forced to take her sisters life to save her own, unable to break the control the vile Volrath had dominated her with.

When the dust settled Omega had been seized by the new governmental hierarchy, only Meagan and Saul survived the failed company. Meagan went on to gather other mutant hero holdouts and overtime she lent her mental strength to shield a whole other team of young heroes that came to be known as the resistance, the enemy of the king of the world. Bianca had left a book, something like a diary from her mentor and her detailing the story of the Exarch. When the time came several more years later for the Exarch's to be summoned to defend reality only villains remained to fill the roles of protectors of reality.

Meagan was chosen as the embodiment of the mental presence of every mind in the universe and she somehow led the others to stand against Entropy. Volrath controlled all the other Exarch and he planned to use them to kill Meagan as soon as the battle was won. Even as she risked her own life to save the life of everyone else in the universe the vile Volrath tried to betray her. Entropy was repelled but Meagan knew it was only temporary. She tried again to convince him to build a time machine and grudgingly he agreed.

Seven years passed as Saul lent his mental strength to designing the ultimate affront to the makers laws, a machine to transgress the law of time by travelling backwards thru a forward moving media. He hated the idea of it but he agreed that evil had won and they had lost and it wasn't going to get better. Going back and changing the course was the only choice, Saul however was immune to temporal changes, he could not travel time only freeze it around him with great effort, only Meagan could go back.

She fell in love and watched her lover die, Chris Angleton, a.k.a. Firefly. She united a band of rebels to stand up against Volrath and one by one she watched them die, Lifter, Primus, Streak, Firefly, Radar, Knuckles, Wendy, Impak, Ranger. All friends and so much like family that every death drove a nail into her will power pushing her harder to fulfill her purpose and defend the fate of all against this horrible end that kept prevailing. When the time machine was completed she raided her Aunt's purse and recovered her secret artifacts. Meagan donned the armor of her ancestor, the possessed Samurai armor of Itchyama the dread warlord. Immediately the ancient spirit assaulted her will and tried to conquer her. Meagan held him off stoically, with ease she drew him into her subconscious and made his power her own. She gained his self-healing power while she wore the armor and she gained his proficiency at manipulating groups of minds instead of just one at a time. Also in her aunts bag of tricks was a magic dagger that was forged in hell with a magic compulsion ability built into its evil powers. Meagan swore on the blade she would not rest until her family was made safe again and the magic blade imbued her with a magical resolve that would help her prevail even if she was injured and unable to act. When the time came to travel in the machine Saul gave her both of his special made katana as he stayed behind to hold off the invaders. She was armed with more secret weapons and gifts that her Aunt used to guard as she activated the time machine and left behind everything she had fought for to gain a chance to save this fate from ever occurring.

Little did she know that she was leaving a future that would never occur. In this strange twist of fate a powerful precognitive hero who previously had decided to use his power for greed and personal gain finally saw an awful fate far into his own future. He saw his own death and tried to conceive what action might prevent his own fate. As he attempted notion after notion that only put him on the run and scrambling to survive he finally gave up on wealth and fame and committed his life to stopping an awful fate for all mankind. He witnessed the Psychic Warlord leave a horrible future and he acted to change that future from happening. As the new Warlord travelled time, time itself changed and the past she sought to alter ceased to exist. She emerged from the time stream 5 years before she intended to. The time period she had been trying to travel too ceased to exist and she emerged from the wrecked time machine a few days after her 13th birthday… 3 years before she really discovered her psychic powers.

Meagan went to ground and researched everything she could find out about this time. She was supposed to intercept Volrath and ambush and kill him on the day he recruited Thrall, Swampy and Warp Master. Three years too soon she searched until she found an alias Volrath had once used. She found the bastard responsible for killing her family before he actually discovered his powers. An archaeologist student who was currently on a dig in Mesopotamia.

Meagan flew there and tracked him down and actually found him on the dig site. As she located him the wretched villain to be had just uncovered a stone chest and was opening it as she came upon his hole in the ground. In the chest was the magic artifact called the mind's eye, the object that had turned a normal kid into the villain that conquered the world. As he reached for the powerful artifact she drew her sword and killed him. She knew it was wrong, she knew she sacrificed her innocence for vengeance but also in her mind she knew she was justified in what she did even though she was paying this kid back for evil things he would never actually do. Other nearby students saw the heinous murder and actually had time to snap a picture before the Psychic Warlord escaped the scene of the murder she had just committed.

Meagan reached over the lifeless corpse and picked up the triangular obsidian shard that pulsed with power before her. As she grasped the shard she immediately felt her mind expand. The shard lit up every hidden power in her mind at the same time, it turned her into her full potential, simultaneously energizing what she could only light up one at a time before made her feel so omnipotent that she sighed in a new overwhelming depression. She stopped the evil from ever occuring but she gave up her innocence to do so. Now she was the villain she intended to stop and trapped out of time who was to say she would not now cease to exist or herself be hunted by heroes who saw the pictures of her that other humans around her were taking.

Meagan resolved herself to the role of Warlord. It made it easier to resist Itchyamo by conceding his viewpoint. She was meant to lead. She had lead before and had many successes to compensate for an occasional failure. Now here she is with a new weapon to help in the battle for good vs. evil, a new control and a vast amount of experience concerning things to come. Who else would ever be more qualified to lead the next resistance against Entropy?

She placed the Mind's Eye inside the helmet that possessed the will of the ancient Warlord and as she donned the helmet she gained control of the mind of every unshielded brain on the planet. The ancient Itchyamo was her loyal thrall and when she insinuated her will even in the least other minds were swayed to her viewpoint. She was truly the Psychic Warlord and so close to becoming fully corrupt in her own power that she created a secondary willpower out of the entirety of her mental strength, an effective conscience that kept her regulated and on a mortal level human and humane even though she knew logic argued immorality and she had the power to fulfill logics resolution.

Even the presence in the evil hell forged dagger was bent to her command and its knowledge lent to hers to make her more prepared for what was to come. It too was a mind and the mental command of the Mind's Eye was meant to dominate any thinking thing even if it was limited in intelligence, even insects and automatons were hers to control. Meagan returned to Omega and entered the building with a secret password Saul would reveal to her many years later. She went to see what else had changed because her precognitive power warned her this place was more different than she realized. As she entered the building without triggering any alarms she discovered that the whole facility had been dispatched very recently. She pried and discovered that Bianca and Saul were responding to a hostage situation in town.

She disguised herself as a welcome presence and discovered that her father Leo had been missing for over 48 hours, an incident that did not occur in her memory of the past. Also, everyone in the building was responding to an emergency at a familiar location, the entirety of Omega Corp. was at her former middle school and according to mission control they were trying to save her and stop the school from exploding and killing over 700 kids, parents, and teachers in and around the building. None of this ever happened before. Meagan downloaded a copy of all the mission information leading up to the disappearance of her dad and put it in her pocket and tried to leave without drawing attention.

All her heroic life she had been repeatedly sent back to a mutant called Radar to train. He had an amazing gift for seeing things others did not, he was not easily distracted and was almost impossible to manipulate or deceive. Other than that he was one of the most competent soldiers she had ever trained under and his reflexes and his ethics were the 2 greatest things she ever learned to imitate. When he came around the corner ahead of her she knew she would have trouble.

He did not know her, especially bedecked in the regal warlord armor, and whatever false sense of security she projected on others seemed to bounce off him. He tried to ready his weapon without being noticed but Meagan knew him better at this point than he knew her, she reacted first, preemptively lashing out with a stunning psychic force and following with a roundhouse to knock him out before he could unshoulder his energy rifle he fondly named "Peacemaker". Radar shrugged off the stun blast and somehow reacted fast enough to dodge my kick as he pulled his weapon and pointed it at me. He hesitated and I knew it was because he didn't want to kill a woman.

Very slowly I raised my hand to my helmet and lifted the shiny steel mask to show him my face underneath.

Plan B went something on the fly like this; "Radar… Randy Davis Dawson, You know who I am though we both know I don't belong here. You have to let me go. I am here to stop something terrible from happening and you are the only one that might recognize me for who I really am."

I know I look like my Mom. I know Radar worked with my Mom and Dad a long time ago in the field before she died. He lowers his weapon and I assert my full will thru the Mind's Eye to put him to sleep. In his defense he is able to shrug it off in a few moments but it is long enough for me to get away. I leave the place I was trained with a new measure of respect for old trainers and for my living family. My Dad is missing and I mean to find him. History has changed more than just what I came back to alter, someone else is tampering with time and I need to find out who before more damage is done.

This new past is a mystery to me and I must learn more before I damage something myself. If only I had some allies to help… Oh yes, I know just who to seek out.

THREE


End file.
